1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a dispensing-opening plate for dispenser containers which are suitable for the application of cosmetic antiperspirant formulations containing stabilized particles.
2. Discussion of Background Information
Transparent and translucent products are preferred by many consumers, in particular, esthetically. Transparent formulations are thus frequently used, for example, as deodorants or antiperspirants. These preparations are often enriched with particles, so-called beads. Such preparations containing free-floating particles are known, for example, from DE 10200505551 A, U.S. Pat. No. 6,793,915 B and US 2004/022 88 86 A.
The production of cosmetic preparations which contain free-floating particles is therefore familiar to a person skilled in the art and does not pose any problem.
The particles incorporated in the cosmetic preparations may be very varied in type, e.g. of homogeneous or heterogeneous construction, in the form of active-substance-containing capsules or only to enhance the visual appeal of the preparation.
In all cases, however, the particles must have a certain level of hardness or strength in order that they are not destroyed or broken up during the production process of the preparation. However, this also means that it is only by subjecting them to a certain level of force during application that the particles can be ground down or broken up and distributed more or less homogeneously, mixed in with the rest of the preparation surrounding them.
This is generally not problematic in the case of shower products, since the latter are applied to the body generally by hand, a certain quantity of preparation being applied to the hand from the bottle and the hand then being guided, with a certain level of pressure, over the rest of the body in order to apply the preparation.
With deodorant products, the preparation is generally not applied directly by hand to the parts of the body which are deodorized; rather, this is done using applicators suitable for the applications. It has been found that the applicators known from the prior art—e.g. dispenser sticks with a spindle drive—function wonderfully well for preparations which do not contain any free-floating particles. Suitable dispensers are already known from Curtis Helene Ind's., U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,382, Procter & Gamble's EP 031 21 65, Unilever's EP 111 37 35, Gilette's DE 690 32 947 and Henkel KGaA's DE 199 21 662. Such dispensers generally have a dispensing-opening plate which may be connected in one or more pieces with the rest of the dispenser housing and carries one or more dispensing openings. The dispensing-opening plate is usually curved and/or rounded, this allowing it to slide easily over the area of skin envisaged for the application, in particular the armpit. It is important that even relatively pronounced application pressure does not result in any injuries in the application zone.
In the case of preparations which contain free-floating particles, however, the particles are ground down to an inadequate extent, in which case they remain on the skin in an undesirably intact state. It has been found that, here, the surface of the applicator, which in contrast to the palm of the hand is smooth, makes a significant contribution to the inadequate grinding down of the particles since the particles only “roll” between the applicator surface and the skin. Particles within the meaning of this application are understood to be in particular solids and liquids, for example solid beads or liquid droplets, which preferably have a size of 200 nm to a number of millimeters, preferably between 0.5 mm and 5 mm.
The situation is made more difficult, in addition, by the fact that particles which remain in the outlet opening when the product is ground down on the surface of the skin, and are therefore not exposed to any shearing action by the grinding-down operation, remain as intact particles, as a result of the product film applied to the skin, when the applicator is raised off from the skin.
A further phenomenon which renders application more difficult may also occur in the case of conventional dispensing openings: particles which have already been dispensed are pushed back (“collected”) into the outlet openings again when the contents are distributed over the skin, in which case the quantity of effectively applied particles vastly decreases. This “vacuum cleaner effect” is successfully prevented by using the inventive dispensing-opening plates or dispensing openings.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a dispensing-opening plate which is suitable for dispenser containers which can be used to apply cosmetic preparations having at least one type of free-floating particles.